Woman Sued for $750,000 for Writing Scathing Yelp Review
Think twice before you slam a business online. In 2012, Virginia homeowner Jane Perez was sued for $750,000 over scathing reviews she posted about her home contractor. The case became one of the defining early battles over free speech on review sites.
What did she write?
Perez hired Dietz Development, run by Christopher Dietz, for work on her Fairfax, Virginia home. When the job went bad, she posted reviews on Yelp and Angie's List accusing the company of damaging her house, trespassing, using deceitful billing, lacking a Virginia contractor's license, and stealing her jewelry. "Dietz was the only one with the key," she wrote of the missing jewelry. Her Angie's List sign-off: "Bottom line, do not put yourself through this nightmare of a contractor."
Why did he sue?
In late October 2012, Dietz filed a $750,000 defamation suit, claiming the reviews had cost him $300,000 in lost business. On December 7, a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge went further than damages: he issued a preliminary injunction ordering Perez to delete or rewrite the reviews.
Why did free speech advocates care?
The ACLU of Virginia and Public Citizen took Perez's case, arguing the injunction was a prior restraint on speech, barred by the First Amendment. On December 28, 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court agreed, vacating the order in a one-page ruling: the injunction "was not justified."
As Public Citizen attorney Paul Alan Levy put it: "It shouldn't be easy to take down speech that you don't like. You can't get an injunction against defamation. If it's really defamation, you get damages."
How did it end?
At trial, a Fairfax jury found that Perez had indeed defamed Dietz, but also that Dietz had defamed her in his own postings. The result: nobody was awarded damages. He sued for $750,000 and walked away with nothing, plus a permanent place in internet history as the contractor who sued his customer.
Was this part of a trend?
Yes. Perez was one entry in a wave of businesses suing critics: a San Francisco chiropractor sued a Yelper in 2009 (settled), a Chicago plastic surgeon sued three reviewers in 2010, and a Virginia Pilates studio sued two reviewers that September. Free speech advocates warned that lawsuits were becoming a tool to bully critics into silence.
FAQ
Who sued whom? Contractor Christopher Dietz (Dietz Development) sued homeowner Jane Perez for $750,000 over her Yelp and Angie's List reviews.
What did the Virginia Supreme Court decide? On December 28, 2012, it vacated the injunction ordering Perez to take down her reviews, calling it unjustified prior restraint.
Did Dietz win damages? No. The jury found defamation on both sides and awarded nothing to either party.
Can businesses sue over bad reviews? They can try, but truth is a defense, opinions are generally protected, and courts have consistently sided with reviewers' right to share truthful experiences.
The takeaway
Dietz wanted $750,000 and silence. He got neither, and his name is now permanently attached to the reviews he tried to kill. The Streisand effect has a contractor's face.
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